Electricity price hiked by Rs2.83 per unit

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has jacked up the power tariff by Rs2.83 per unit for the month of March 20204, on account of monthly fuel adjustment, increasing the burden on inflation-hit consumers.

An official notification for the price hike stated that the tariff has been jacked up on account of fuel charges adjustment, which will be reflected in the bills issued in May. It stated that the said adjustment of Rs2.8372.kWh will be applicable to all the consumer categories except the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers.

Moreover, the said price hike will also not be applicable to K-Electric consumers. “The adjustment will be shown separately in the conumers’ bills on the basis of unites billed to the consumers in the month of March 2024,” it added. Nepra directed all the Distribution Companies (Discos) concerned to strictly comply with the orders of the courts notwithstanding this order.

Last month, the Ministry of Power Division announced that the power consumers were likely to get another relief of Rs4.12 per unit in the electricity bills in the month of May as a petition seeking price cut from Rs2.94 to Rs4.92 per unit in terms of fuel cost adjustment had been submitted to Nepra. The higher proposed FCA for March is apparently mainly due to higher domestic coal and gas prices, although the use of imported fuels like coal, diesel and furnace oil remained zero. LNG was relatively cheaper, and the exchange rate remained stable.

In a petition, the CPPA, acting as commercial agent of Discos, demanded an additional FCA of Rs2.94 per unit in the May bills for electricity consumed in March. It claimed that the reference fuel cost for March was Rs6.44 per unit, but the actual fuel cost rose to Rs9.38 per unit. The average fuel cost in February also stood at about Rs9.42 per unit.

It said about 8,023-gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity was generated at an estimated fuel expenditure of Rs66.7bn (Rs8.3 per unit) in March, of which 7,756 GWh energy was delivered to Discos at the cost of Rs72.67bn (at Rs9.38 per unit). The data showed declining consumption trends. The consumption in March was also 8.3pc lower than the same month (8,459Gwh) last year. The Rs2.94 per unit FCA for March sought this year was more than double the Rs1.17 per unit FCA of the same month last year.

Earlier in March, Nepra okayed a hike of Rs2.75 per unit in power tariff for the current quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24, putting an additional burden in exorbitant electricity bills for consumers. This was approved in terms of quarterly adjustment for the second quarter of FY2023-24, having a uniform impact Rs2.75 per unit on each consumer.